Pay Hikes for Lawmakers and Judges To Go Into Effect

A Senate committee kills an attempt to derail legislative and judicial pay raises, paving the way for the raises to go into effect. A motion is made to send a House-approved resolution to the floor of the Senate for debate. Committee Chairman, Senator Charlie Shields (R-St. Joseph) calls for a second and no one on the committee offers it. The resolution dies in committee. The pay raises will go into effect. Legislators, statewide officeholders and judges will receive $1,200 lump sums and 4% raises. Associate Circuit Judges will get an additional $2,000. All go into effect July first, except for legislators who will get their raises in 2009. Senator Shields says there isn’t interest in the Senate for rejecting the pay hikes. He says that even if the resolution made it to the Senate floor, it wouldn?t have received the 23 votes needed to pass. Shields denies that the committee took action to keep senators from having to go on record in support of pay hikes. He says those senators who opposed the pay hikes co-sponsored a Senate resolution to reject them. Shields says many senators were persuaded by spokesmen for the Missouri Bar who testified that a lack of pay raises in the past have diminished the number of applicants for judicial vacancies. A change in law approved by voters in November allows raises recommended by the Missouri Citizens? Commission on Compensation for Elected Officials to go into effect unless rejected by a two-thirds vote of the legislature. The legislature must act before February first; Thursday.2payhikeva.MP3 (437k)